Monday, May 25, 2015

The Secret Garden movie that I watched earlier that day replayed in my mind as I photographed flowers in my backyard.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden," the young heroine said in the story.

Music (play video below) from the movie sent me adrift into mysterious realms.

If you look just the right way past the misty veil, you might catch glimpses of different realities.

Even the most fleeting spark of intuition or smudge of scientific study suggests nothing is quite as it appears to the human senses.

When a breeze whispers into the lobe of a leaf or a storm roars like an angry beast, it is clear there is much more to know about our garden home.

The true nature of existence and how life began is the world's greatest secret, sprouting multiple theories.

I liked how the author of the original story, Frances Hodgson Burnett, focused on the wizardry of it all when she brilliantly wrote:

"Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places.”

Monday, May 4, 2015

HAVE YOU gotten out of bed with a big yawn and a stretch and a niggling feeling there is something important you forgot that needed your attention yesterday? Oh, yes … that gift for someone special that you still did not get. It is a dilemma we all have faced, including Penelope who is only six years old and penniless.

That is the start of the story accompanying another set of watercolour pencil drawings my daughter gave me several years ago for Mother's Day, complete with original font for the prose. I procrastinated a long time but finally produced an e-book version of it online for fun and to preserve the art. Penelope's Gift of Time: Because No One Can Fill Your Shoes is from a child's simple perspective while the motivation behind the theme is mine.

During my walks, I often see the very elderly or ill accompanied by uninterested strangers. Tiny tots are ignored by nannies and parents who are lost in their cellphone screens. The Penelope story is about discovering nature's true gifts and being fully engaged with someone near who deserves attention.

This is the second in what I expect to be a growing series featuring the Penelope Puddle character and her small sidekick umbrella that takes on a best-pal role. In fact, I have big plans to evolve the umbrella's "personality" in future. I just need a few more decades of time in which to do all that I want to do with the concept and art.

Although I no longer get them as gifts, I have a wealth of Penelope drawings tucked away to play with whenever I find the time. An upcoming visit with my daughter for Mother's Day will give me a chance to thank her again for providing me with an always welcoming friend that absorbs my imagination and never accusingly asks, "Where have you been? What took you so long?"

Postscript May 11, 2015

A soft light glowed through the glass at a restaurant we randomly walked into on Sunday for a Mother's Day brunch. When we were seated, I noticed a sign on the wall over my daughter's head that read, "I don't eat my friends."

The Heirloom Vegetarian served up a plate of food that turned out to be one of the tastiest meals I have eaten anywhere. The vinaigrette on the super fresh salad was laced with the perfect amount of tang and the creamy sauce, spiced with a bit of seaweed powder, melted beautifully over the mouth-watering nutty meat substitute. The exceptional flavours sweetened our conversation.

As the reflection on the window from the outside shows, the day was not cloudless. So I was amazed that the sky still cast a wonderful glow.

PENELOPE PUDDLISMS: BC LIFE IS A WHALE OF A RIDE contains original copyrighted content inspired by Penelope (Penny) Puddle who chases away a gloomy day. Click on the book to learn about the imaginary character that motivated me to start this online journal where I share real-life West Coast scenes. Penelope Puddle illustrations are by my daughter.

TOUCH THE SEASHELL TO LINK TO "WITH MY UMBRELLA, I CAN ..."

Drawings kids make for us are priceless and in rare cases escape refrigerator doors

MY WEST COAST daughter was small when she first conjured up a painting of Penelope (Penny) Puddle and her sidekick umbrella as a gift to me, a writer who evolved the character. Penelope is an original creation that represents the youthful can-do spirit in us all. She loves the BC outdoors where she can travel from sandy beach to snowy mountaintop in a day. Penelope thrives in the rainy season when her imagination grows best. She inspired a kid's book, greeting cards and this site which allows me to explore, create and participate in the broader universe of ideas.

CLICK ON PENELOPE TO LEARN ABOUT THE PUDDLISM CONCEPT

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS, photographs and content are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form without expressed written permission from Maria Pavlik.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Spellbound by books early

LEARNING TO READ was not easy but once I found meaning in the letters, a gateway to books and fantastic realms opened. Now I have fun creating my own stories for kids and grownups. Childhood art and stories instill the power of possibilities. As Albert Einstein once said: "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions." He also said: "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle." I prefer the latter.

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BC WEATHER REPORTS

IF YOU ARE WONDERING what to wear in and around Vancouver, BC, click on the cap and umbrella for current weather conditions.

MY EUROPEAN TRAVEL TALES

CLICK ON the orange umbrella to read my European travel tales. I enjoy photography, artistic expressions that usually involve Penelope Puddle with her umbrella, and writing articles about BC as well as my travels elsewhere. When I am not “puddling” outdoors, my journey is online.

IN MY WORLD I've been thinking about the Lewis Carroll books and how our visit to the beautiful Palace of Versailles last October remind...

Tap into your inner wings

BC FAIRIES are copyrighted illustrations by my daughter. A click on the floral umbrella art sheds light on the tiny creatures.

Cystic Fibrosis

CF TAKES your breath away. Click on the t-shirt to learn more about this dreadful illness affecting children.

Traveling With Your Pet

IT’S NEVER COOL to travel with a hot dog. The occasional sweltering weather in BC reminds us that pets left in cars can suffocate from the heat in October as well as in July. Click on the pet to read this post.

All Rights Reserved

PENELOPE PUDDLISMS: BC LIFE IS A WHALE OF A RIDE contains copyrighted content. No part of its writings, concepts, illustrations and/or photographs may be reproduced in any form without expressed, written permission from the author.

PENELOPE'S GIFT OF TIME

HAVE YOU GOTTEN out of bed with a big yawn and a stretch and a niggling feeling there is something important you forgot that needed your attention yesterday? Oh, yes … that gift for someone special that you still did not get. It is a dilemma we all have faced, including Penelope who is only six and penniless. You do not have to be a parent to enjoy Penelope’s surprising discoveries as she sets off on a rainy day with her sidekick umbrella to find the perfect present for Mother’s Day. Penelope’s Gift of Time is a fully illustrated rhyming tale that effortlessly shows preschoolers and early readers how fond memories build and a sense of connectedness grows when we give of ourselves. (This 20-page story is the second in the Penelope series.)

COUCH AND COMPANY

SINK DEEP into this spellbinding tale about a little girl named Rue who tumbles down the crevice of a second-hand couch to find buttons, coins and dust balls surprisingly animated and in fear of a hot-tempered bully. The highly descriptive prose could draw out some unexpected theatrical skills from parents when dramatizing the story aloud to children. The tiny town under siege inside the sofa and its remarkable residents offer an entertaining read with a quirky lesson. It will take teamwork and creative thinking to overcome the grouch hidden in the bouncy lettuce-green couch. (Short story, no illustrations.)